New York Times Columnist Pogue Leaving for Yahoo Tech Site

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- David Pogue, who reviews gadgets for
the New York Times, is leaving to help start a consumer-technology site for Yahoo! Inc., another key exit for one of the
most-read U.S. newspapers.

Pogue will be hiring a staff to help produce columns, blog
posts and videos for Yahoo, he said in an e-mail. After spending
13 years at the Times, where he praised products such as Apple
Inc.’s iPhone, he said Yahoo is giving him a “dream”
opportunity.

In contrast to the many tech blogs online, Pogue said he
wants to build “a site for normal people,” that features how-tos, secret features, troubleshooting and consumer advocacy --
“the stuff I thrive on,” he said.

The New York Times is grappling with how to retain writers
who have developed their own personal brands and followings
online. Nate Silver, the statistics blogger who correctly called
every U.S. state in the last presidential election, took his
FiveThirtyEight blog to Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN earlier this
year.

Under Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer, Yahoo has been
investing in its products with acquisitions, upgrades and new
content amid a turnaround effort. Since last year the company
has released new versions of photo-sharing site Flickr as well
as its news and sports sites.

‘Unique Position’

“David will lead a major expansion of consumer tech
coverage on Yahoo,” Mayer said on a company blog post. “Yahoo
is in a unique position to bring to life great editorial about
the technology consumers are using every day.”

Pogue said his plans at Yahoo could include a technology
conference. Such events have become a lucrative companion
business to tech blogs such as AllThingsD, owned by News Corp.,
and TechCrunch, part of AOL Inc.

Yahoo brought on another Times journalist, Megan Liberman,
as editor-in-chief for Yahoo News earlier this year as it seeks
to improve and expand its content. The company has struck
partnerships to use programming from ABC News and NBC Sports.
Last month, it announced a new fall comedy lineup. It also is
showing users clips from Viacom Inc.’s Comedy Central and MTV
shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert
Report, and more.

Pogue follows another of the consumer-technology industry’s
most influential columnists, Walt Mossberg, in leaving the
newspaper business. Mossberg won’t renew his contract with the
Wall Street Journal when it expires by the end of this year,
choosing instead to start a new venture, he said last month. The
Journal is the biggest newspaper in the U.S. by circulation,
followed by the Times.

Interest Conflicts?

“David has been a valued member of our technology team,”
said Dean Murphy, business editor at the New York Times, and
Suzanne Spector, technology editor, in a staff memo. “We thank
him for a great run, and wish him well in his new adventure.”

While Pogue’s column, and an accompanying e-mail
newsletter, was a popular Times feature, his moonlighting jobs
and a personal relationship led to criticism of potential
conflicts of interest. A post in the Atlantic Wire highlighted
companies he has praised that are also clients of public-relations agency OutCast, where his wife works. Pogue has said
he doesn’t write about clients his wife represents.

Pogue also has written instruction manuals for software he
has reviewed in his Times column, a practice the newspaper’s
former public editor, Clark Hoyt, called a “clear conflict of
interest.” The Times posted an ethics statement by Pogue on its
website and began requiring him to disclose the books he has
written. Pogue is an Emmy-winning correspondent on “CBS Sunday
Morning,” according to his website. He also hosts the “NOVA
ScienceNow” television series on PBS.

With assistance by Edmund Lee in New York and Brian Womack in
San Francisco -- Editors: